Uk Med Student Needs Help Please :)

[UKMedicalStudent]

Hey folks!

So I'm currently a 4th year medical student from the UK. Medicine is a 5 year undergraduate course here so I'm only 21 and haven't yet graduated - 2 more years left though (including this one) woo! Following this, I'd do 2 years of residency in the UK ideally before choosing any specialty.

 

I'm currently looking at my future options, one of which is to work in Canada.

The only information I know about the medical boards is through all the official information websites - none of which are THAT helpful.

 

So I was wondering if someone here could help me?

 

When is the best to sit this MCCEE exam? Is it worth it? Shall I take it before my 2 years residency? Is it really difficult to obtain a medical licence in Canada?

 

Any help would me greatly appreciated

 

Thank you in advance xx

[Edict]

It is not too difficult to work in Canada, but you have to do your residency in the UK first. 

 

I'm not too familiar on the exam process in Canada, but I do know that many Canadian provinces will recognize UK GP training and many UK docs will do fellowships in Canada and some will stay here. 

 

I'm relatively familiar with the UK system, your two years of foundation training don't have a true equivalent in Canada, it wouldn't count as residency in Canada. You would need to be licensed and certified in a specialty in the UK for that to count as residency training. 

 

If you are curious as to how it is like in Canada, do an elective here in your final year. It won't hurt and you will know whether or not you like it here. For residency it is impossible to do it here because you first need to be a permanent resident or citizen just to apply and that process just isn't worth it. Even if you had PR or citizenship the number of residency positions is very limited for graduates from outside Canada or the US MD schools and competition is very fierce. Hundreds of Canadians who studied abroad compete with thousands of immigrant physicians for a few hundred spots in mainly primary care specialties.